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The desktop and the developer

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Re: The desktop and the developer

#171

Post by ANTSANTS »

stcredzero wrote: post #119
eyko wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally agree. I've got a Macbook Air (OSX Mavericks) and a (Lenovo)Thinkpad (Arch Linux). I'd add to your points that it's not only a software issue, but also a hardware issue. Recently I've found myself tweaking the trackpoint settings and have gone so far as modifying the driver and the syndaemon utility just to be able to get a better user experience. When it comes to Apple's hardware/software combination, I'm so…

And I wouldn't usually complain much about that, but the other fact is that the TrackPoint nipple is probably equally as bad in build quality and when you move the pointer a bit, it seems to get stuck and continues to move your pointer until you rub that nipple left or right. Back in the day, IBM made some good hardware. The Trackpoint was one of the things they made that were cited as examples of good engineering. S…

Yeah, putting IBM/Lenovo aside, even the average Compaq or Dell laptop from back in the day had a significantly superior nub compared to my X210. I was really disappointed when I got it, because I remembered nubs being lot more comfortable to use than this thing that "sticks" frequently and has almost painful resistance.

The other benefit of nubs was that not having a huge touch pad at the bottom of the laptop let them bring the keyboard much closer to the edge, where (like a regular keyboard) it is much more comfortable to type on. Since modern Thinkpads include the touchpad anyway, you have no choice but to hurt your wrists constantly for the sake of a device that (if you're like me) you completely disabled in the BIOS because it just got in the way.

Re: The desktop and the developer

#172

Post by mnem »

harel wrote: post #122
mnem wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hang on - it's been trendy for a decade now? That's pretty good marketing. Maybe, just maybe, different developers enjoy coding in different ways.

I never said the hardware was bad, not detracted from any developer's preference to use a mac. I just expressed my opinion. Yes, its true that the apple hardware is very nice, but at the same time, it was much nicer 10 years ago. Today its just stuff I'd expect from any laptop. There is on groundbreaking changes any more. And good marketing - you bet! The best marketing there is. Its herd mentality taken to the extre…

Then I apologise for misreading your comment as a judgement on the valid uses of a Mac rather than it being your personal opinion.

Re: The desktop and the developer

#173

Post by MattyRad »

I have been using Ubuntu as my sole desktop for the past 5 years (except when I play games on Windows), and have just landed a job that requires I use a Mac. It has been incredibly painful trying to do what is normally trivial in Linux.

But to be fair, I realize that I'm the hardcore Linux user who still goes out of his way tweak every little detail with Compiz and ensure that my keyboard shortcuts are all explicitly created. If others are given the choice between Mac, Windows, and Linux, Mac is the most consistent experience with both hardware and software, and I can regrettably understand their choice. I don't mean to go on a rant about Macs, I just want to mention that I've recently been forced to do subject the author's article.

Re: The desktop and the developer

#174

Post by gknoy »

pjc50 wrote: post #81
sz4kerto wrote: post #8

I had been using Linux for years before finally buying a rMBP -- and it took another four months to install Windows 8.1 on it. Any OS has it's problems, and the question is how easy it is to overcome them. Windows does not have a nice console interface, but everything else is fast and frictionless, there are practically no driver problems, etc. I can more ore less work around the lack of proper console (learning Powe…

cannot make my own Google Drive or OneDrive client Could you elaborate on this please? "can't" as in "it's too much work" or "can't" as in "impossible for some technical reason".

I expect he means "can't" as in, "I do not have the technical knowledge or time to devote to doing this, so I'd rather run something with first-party support". That's what I mean when I say "I can't make my own _____".

Similarly, I can't make my own rifle, or design my own airplane.

Re: The desktop and the developer

#175

Post by glogla »

Igglyboo wrote: post #159
silverbax88 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've used Linux, Windows and OS X. I don't consider OS X to be a development environment for serious development. I do consider Linux and Windows to be real dev tools.

I don't know a single person that uses windows for development other than people writing windows specific(.net) software, judging by the overall vibe on HN and /r/programming I'd assume this is a general trend.

I would guess that for every hacker, there are 10 JEE developers that just use their Windows machine for developing applications that never see the outside of the corporation they work at.

Re: The desktop and the developer

#176

Post by ANTSANTS »

pestaa wrote: post #151
ds9 wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for saying that. It's remarkable that so many writers will declare a subjective preference as if it were an objective fact ("$SOME_UI is so ugly!"). Although I also agree with "remembering just how unimportant this arguing is", I'll illustrate by providing a counterexample to the Fine Article's idea that OSX is "an aesthetically pleasing OS". My idea of an esthetically pleasing UI is one with text labels inste…

Never thought about having they keyboard and trackpad switch places, but it surely sounds great in theory. (Well, only for those of us keyboard-centric users, anyway.)

I mentioned this somewhere else in this thread, but before touchpads, most laptops had either a nub (like the kind that Thinkpads still have today) or no mouse at all, and the keyboard was almost always on the lower edge. It really was great for typing.

http://oldcomputers.net/pics/ibm-thinkpad-750c.jpg

I wonder how feasible it would be to gut one of these things and update its internals (big fat battery and a small ARM SBC, maybe).

Re: The desktop and the developer

#177

Post by sonofsam »

microtonal wrote: post #155
harel wrote: post #33

I just don't get how OSX is so popular with a developers. It is essentially a "user's" OS. Not a developer one. Its geared towards, and hides a lot from, the common user. Setting up OSX with all the dev stack is usually a painful experience requiring a few workarounds (I see this with colleagues of mine who wanted a Mac over a Thinkpad with Linux). The keyboard as well is anythign but developer friendly. Where are th…

I just don't get how OSX is so popular with a developers. It is essentially a "user's" OS. I have been a Linux user from 1994 to 2007 (mostly Slackware, some Debian and CentOS later), Mac from 2007. I switched to OS X, because: (1) I don't want to mess with hardware and drivers anymore; (2) I don't want to update my whole operating system to update applications; (3) in my work environment people do use Microsoft Offi…

| (2) I don't want to update my whole operating system to update applications;

This is huge. IMO, this is the purpose of an operating system. I want to install applications, I do not want to waste time installing new versions of my operating system.

The main focus of Linux distributions should be to make as many applications as possible available to the user and make them easily available.

That being said, Docker has changed this a bit for me, but most Linux distributions still fall flat on their faces when it comes to installing non-packaged applications. Sometimes I find myself having to download applications from websites, manually configure them or even compile software myself.

Basically, the file system hierarchy should had been versioned from the start:

  /
    programs
       vim
          7.1
          7.2
          7.3
Instead, you have a single 'vim' binary that gets overwritten if you try to install another version of vim (unless someone renamed the binary for you).

The FHS is a disaster that every distribution tries to implement differently: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filesystem_Hierarchy_Standard

Re: The desktop and the developer

#178

Post by eyko »

ANTSANTS wrote: post #171
stcredzero wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And I wouldn't usually complain much about that, but the other fact is that the TrackPoint nipple is probably equally as bad in build quality and when you move the pointer a bit, it seems to get stuck and continues to move your pointer until you rub that nipple left or right. Back in the day, IBM made some good hardware. The Trackpoint was one of the things they made that were cited as examples of good engineering. S…

Yeah, putting IBM/Lenovo aside, even the average Compaq or Dell laptop from back in the day had a significantly superior nub compared to my X210. I was really disappointed when I got it, because I remembered nubs being lot more comfortable to use than this thing that "sticks" frequently and has almost painful resistance. The other benefit of nubs was that not having a huge touch pad at the bottom of the laptop let th…

Mine is an X230, really disappointed with the nub. I'm getting sentimental here, remembering my old IBM Thinkpad. I just wish a manufacturer realizes there's a market for trackpoints and releases a well-built trackpoint only model. I'm not gonna hold my breath though. I heard the X240 is even worse, which is a pity because I almost got it since it came with an SSD... but I'm not a big fan of soft-key buttons.

Re: The desktop and the developer

#179

Post by eyko »

stcredzero wrote: post #119
eyko wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally agree. I've got a Macbook Air (OSX Mavericks) and a (Lenovo)Thinkpad (Arch Linux). I'd add to your points that it's not only a software issue, but also a hardware issue. Recently I've found myself tweaking the trackpoint settings and have gone so far as modifying the driver and the syndaemon utility just to be able to get a better user experience. When it comes to Apple's hardware/software combination, I'm so…

And I wouldn't usually complain much about that, but the other fact is that the TrackPoint nipple is probably equally as bad in build quality and when you move the pointer a bit, it seems to get stuck and continues to move your pointer until you rub that nipple left or right. Back in the day, IBM made some good hardware. The Trackpoint was one of the things they made that were cited as examples of good engineering. S…

Leaving the trackpoint in the middle / deadzone and then monitoring it's data input values, I always got a (-3,-1) gravity (not sure if that was the term), which is quite bad to be honest. I couldn't get around tweaking the dead zone well enough to avoid the issue. I would take an IBM over this anyday.

Re: The desktop and the developer

#180

Post by eterps »

platz wrote: post #164
collyw wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally agree. I used to love KDE, then they messed it up with KDE 4. Moved to Ubuntu / Gnome. Then Ubuntu screwed it up when they made it all Unity based. Screw that, I was happy working the way I was without to much shiny. Now using XFCE, and its refreshingly simple.

Fan of i3 as well. People talk about tmux and I just shrug; it's built in!

Tmux is built in to i3?
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